Vibratory separators are used to separate solid particulates of different sizes and/or to separate solid particulate from fluids. Vibratory separators may be used in various industries or for various applications, including, for example, the food industry, the cleaning industry, the oil and gas industry, and waste water treatment. Vibratory separators include one or more screens or screening decks. The screens may include a mesh of a determined size that defines the size of the openings in the mesh. Thus, a screen may be selected with a determined size based on the size of the particles to be removed from a material.
The screen is mounted horizontally or at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane and coupled to a vibratory mechanism (e.g., an unbalanced weight on a rotating shaft coupled to the vibratory separator) to impart a desired vibrational motion to the screen. One or more springs may be coupled to the vibratory separator to allow the screen of the vibratory separator to be vibrated. Material that is to be separated or filtered is deposited on to the screen and the screen is vibrated. Fluid and particles smaller than the mesh size of the screen passes through the screen, while material larger than the mesh size of the screen remains on the screen.
Flow of fluid through and/or across a screen may cause the screen mesh to wear or erode. Thus, the screen(s) of a vibratory separator may be removed and replaced with a new screen one or more times during the life of the vibratory separator.